Prayers will be offered by Catholics in parishes across Ireland this weekend in gratitude for the diocesan phase of the Ecumenical Synod.
The Synodal Way is the process of renewing the Catholic Church worldwide at the invitation of Pope Francis.
As part of their preparatory work, the Irish bishops held a public consultation between Easter and Pentecost in 2021.
The diocesan phase included individuals and groups who came together to listen, recognize, and commit to a “renewed commitment to be a missionary church.”
All dioceses have already compiled feedback reports based on their local listening sessions.
The Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Irish Synod Road, Dr Nicholas Brady, described the depth of involvement in the local phase of the General Synod hearing as “encouraging”.
“Learning from this experience and the very honest and wide-ranging sharing that has been proposed provides a strong foundation on which to build in the coming years as we develop our own national Synodal Path,” she said.
The Catholic Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin, thanked the participants for their constructive commitment to the many local listening sessions and for their statements.
“This initial diocesan phase of the Synodal Way is the largest consultation ever held in the Catholic Church as we seek to discover what the Holy Spirit of the Church is saying at the moment,” he said.
The Catholic Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin
We Are Church Ireland – a group of baptized women and men seeking change in the Catholic Church – made a submission to the Global and National Synodal Pathway.
He identified three main themes where change was needed – equality for women, a review of the whole church’s teaching on sexuality, and shared decision-making.
While welcoming the Synod process, he expressed two concerns this week.
It says the institutional church has not sufficiently promoted the Synod process at the national level in Ireland.
We Are Church also questioned whether the national synthesis – which will provide a summary for the whole of Ireland – would be made public.
The Irish Catholic bishops will meet this month before the National Pre-Synodal Meeting, which will discuss the findings of the diocesan phase.
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